The Toronto Waterfront Marathon was run today and competitors came from far and wide to compete.
The 26 mile annual event began two decades ago (as a half Marathon) and it has attracted world class competitors.
The race was won by a runner from Kenya. Marathons have been dominated by East Africans from Kenya and Ethiopia. The record for a runner in a Toronto Marathon was set 36 years ago when a time of 2hrs, 10 minutes and 9 seconds.
Drayton’s time has been unassailable but but this year Canadian Reid Coolaset, managed 2:10:55 missing the record by a mere 46 seconds. Coolaset might have broken the old mark had he not been forced to take a washroom break at the 25K point.
A hostel guest, Ben Christmann from Paisley, Ontario (a town near Walkerton) came to compete in his first Marathon. He is an employee of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Plant and strictly a recreational runner (and he’s heard all of the Homer simpson jokes). He finished in a very respectable time of 3:55 and qualified for a Gold Medallion.
The oldest competitor to complete the race was 100 year-old Fauja Singh who received his Gold Medallion for completing the course.
The fitness/running craze began in earnest in the post-hippie late 1970′s when it seemed everyone was out jogging to keep fit. The 1977 best seller ” The Complete Book of Running” by James Fixx helped popularize the sport. His death by heart attack after a run at the age of 52 spawned an anti-running movement with people sporting T-Shirts “Jogging Can Kill You!”
Tragically, this year a 27 year-old competitor collapsed and died just before he completed the race.
Still, the vast majority of runners are pretty healthy and physically fit bunch and the over 19,000 runners in this year’s race raised over 2.5 million dollars for more than 90 local charities.
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